President Donald Trump mentioned Tuesday he want to see services like the brand new so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” migrant detention middle in Florida‘s Everglades in different states.
“Nicely, I believe want to see them in lots of states. Actually, many states,” the president mentioned. “And, you realize, sooner or later, they could morph right into a system.”
The Trump administration is popping the distant Dade-Collier Coaching and Transition Airport right into a facility that officers say will ultimately maintain as much as 5,000 folks. Officers say operations will begin on Tuesday. The power is a part of Trump’s efforts to ramp up deportations by increasing detention capability. The president has already despatched migrants to Guantánamo Bay and the mega-prison in El Salvador.
Requested by ABC Information’ Mary Bruce if the brand new middle could possibly be a brand new customary for immigration services within the U.S. regardless of criticism for its harsh circumstances, Trump mentioned, “It may be.”
President President Donald Trump and Secretary of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem tour a migrant detention middle, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” positioned on the web site of the Dade-Collier Coaching and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Fla., July 1, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
“I imply, you do not all the time have land so stunning and so safe. They’ve quite a lot of bodyguards and quite a lot of cops which are within the type of alligators. You don’t need to pay them a lot however I would not need to run by the Everglades for lengthy. It should maintain folks the place they’re alleged to be. This can be a essential factor,” he mentioned.
White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned Trump’s go to could be an opportunity for the president to tout the funding for extra detention services and efforts to enact Trump’s mass deportation coverage which are in his megabill that the Senate might vote on Tuesday earlier than sending to the Home earlier than Trump’s Fourth of July deadline.
“I believe his journey to this detention facility truly underscores the necessity to move the One Large, Stunning Invoice as a result of we’d like extra detention services throughout the nation,” Leavitt mentioned.
A supply aware of the planning tells ABC it should value Florida $450 million a 12 months, and officers say a few of that cash shall be reimbursed from FEMA’s Shelter and Companies Program.
Leavitt described the ability’s distant location in her briefing on Monday.
“There’s just one street main in, and the one manner out is a one-way flight,” she mentioned. “It’s remoted and surrounded by harmful wildlife and unforgiving terrain. The power could have as much as 5,000 beds to deal with, course of and deport prison unlawful aliens.”
President President Donald Trump and Secretary of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem tour a migrant detention middle, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” positioned on the web site of the Dade-Collier Coaching and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Fla., July 1, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP by way of Getty Photos
“That is an environment friendly and low-cost manner to assist perform the most important mass deportation marketing campaign in American historical past,” Leavitt added.
When requested in regards to the distant and harmful location, Leavitt mentioned that it was a function of the ability to assist stop detainees from escaping.
“Nicely look, when you’ve unlawful murderers and rapists and heinous criminals in a detention facility surrounded by alligators, sure, I do assume that is a deterrent for them to attempt to escape,” she mentioned. “We do know that a few of these unlawful criminals have escaped from different detention services, like one in New Jersey, which I do know was just lately reported on. So, after all, we need to maintain the American folks protected, and we need to take away these public security threats from our streets, and we need to successfully detain them as finest as we are able to.”
Florida Legal professional Normal James Uthmeier posted on X that the ability is a “one cease store” to hold out Trump’s mass deportation agenda, claiming the placement saves cash on safety because it’s surrounded by harmful animals.
President President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and Secretary of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem tour a migrant detention middle, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” positioned on the web site of the Dade-Collier Coaching and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Fla., July 1, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP by way of Getty Photos
“You need not make investments that a lot within the perimeter. Folks get out, there’s not a lot ready for them apart from alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go, nowhere to cover,” Uthmeier posted.
Amongst officers who will be part of Trump on the facility are Division of Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Congressman Byron Donalds.
In a press release launched Monday, Noem mentioned, “Alligator Alcatraz, and different services prefer it, will give us the potential to lock up a number of the worst scumbags who entered our nation below the earlier administration. We are going to develop services and mattress house in simply days, due to our partnership with Florida. Make America protected once more.”
DeSantis touted the ability final week as “as protected and safe as you may be.”
Environmental teams are suing to cease development, alleging the federal government violated the Endangered Species Act by constructing on protected land.
Protesters gathered alongside the freeway that cuts by the Everglades to reveal on Saturday. They included environmental activists and Native Individuals advocating for his or her ancestral homelands. Others demonstrated in opposition to the therapy of migrants.
